Download or read book Nietzsche, Wagner and the Philosophy of Pessimism written by Roger Hollinrake and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2010-11-01 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Nietzsche’s relationship with Wagner has long been a source of controversy and has given rise to a number of important studies, including this major breakthrough in Nietzsche scholarship, first published in 1982. In this work Hollinrake contends that the nature and extent of the anti-Wagnerian pastiche and polemic in Thus Spake Zarathustra is arguably the most important factor in the association between the two. Thus Wagner, as the purveyor of a particular brand of Schopenhauerian pessimism, is here revealed as one of the principle sources – and targets – of Zarathustra. Whilst addressed primarily to students of German Literature, this book will also be of interest to musicians, philosophers and students of the history of culture and ideas.